Tom Isaac and his wife, Debra, have family out of state. But for Thanksgiving this year, they chose not to travel.

Instead, the Isaacs volunteered their time serving others at the River City Rescue Mission, 3705 Washington St.

Tom was kitchen help. Debra helped prepare meals that would be taken to residents in the area who couldn’t get out of their home to come to the mission for the community dinner.

River City Rescue Mission is one of several organizations and churches that provided a Thanksgiving meal for those in the community who needed one.

“This is a little tradition my wife and I have,” Isaac said. “We want to participate in the community.”

The Isaacs go to church with Earnie Hall at First Baptist in Vicksburg, and for the last few years have been volunteering at the rescue mission. Hall is the director of the mission.

Hall said River City Rescue Mission served 276 takeout plates on Thursday.

“Those went to some apartment complexes for the elderly and to some individuals we knew couldn’t get out for a Thanksgiving meal,” Hall said.

In addition, 98 plates were served to those who ate their Thanksgiving meal at the mission.

And, over a two-day period, the mission prepared 79 food boxes for those who regularly turn to the mission for food needs.

“The greatest thing that was accomplished was watching every walk of life in Vicksburg working to help those in Vicksburg,” Hall said.

The River City Rescue Mission “is a place to start over,” Isaac said.

Hall said the mission is open to anyone who has “hurts, habits or hang ups. I came to the mission in 1992, and it took a long time for me to get clean. And God brought me back here eight years ago.”

The mission is Christ-centered, but non-denominational. Services are held at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and at 1:30 p.m. the second and fourth Sundays of each month.

For more information on River City Rescue Mission — whether you need help from them or seek to volunteer or donate — visit its website at rivercityrescuemission.org or call 601-636-6602.